A Year On and When Things Go Wrong

Well late last June I went to my first Ceroc class. Nervous and uncertain what to expect. I arrived early (something never really seen since) and was greeted by a lovely Taxi dancer who explained what to expect. At the same time I remember being overwhelmed by a couple of dancers doing a warm up dance and thinking that I was way out of my league being there. Anyway the beginner class was difficult. I think I had trouble getting a Shoulder Drop right and spending ages worrying about it. We moved from class into freestyle while I nervously danced with a few women. Even though I was finding it difficult and I knew four moves I loved every bit of it. A lot of men have said it has taken them weeks to actually get to a stage where they were actually enjoying it but I found I was taken with it from the word go.

It didn't take long before I was back again. Part of that was my desire to learn more and to get the moves right. The other part was to get another fix. Less than three months in I found myself in my first competition and my first weekender. That experience just got me both wanting to learn more and realising how much I enjoyed it. I was more hooked than ever before. I tried some other dance styles as well. Salsa never stuck but WCS did and I'm still hoping to learn others (such as actually doing a reasonable level of Tango).

One thing that has always surprised me in dancing is what a lovely, friendly bunch of people go; and how enjoyable it is dancing with people you've danced with many times before and also dancing with people you've just met that night. I met my lovely girlfriend there and it has been so enjoyable to go dancing with her.

I've traveled more in Scotland and around the UK this last year than I have done in my entire life previous to taking up dancing. It's been a fantastic part of my life and I'm so glad that a friend pointed it out and that I decided to go. So to everyone out there that I've met through it and all the lovely people that I've danced with Thank You it's been a wonderful part of my life.

At the beginning of July I had a small accident at work and managed to damage the tendon in my ankle. That's meant that up until recently I haven't been dancing for the last 5 weeks or so (I'm still taking it slowly now but that's for another post). Not dancing for that period made me realise how much of my social, exercise and entertainment dancing is and how the absence of it drove me a little crazy. I think it took that for me to realise what a big part of my life it really is. Not that I'm happy that the lesson had to be learned in such a way.

So I'm hoping that my second year of dancing doesn't go on the way it started but that I can continue to enjoy it and hopefully improve my dancing in the process.

June Review

We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.
-Japanese Proverb

Aberdeen Beach Ballroom

I really enjoyed my trip to Aberdeen, the workshops and the parties. Amir has such a good teaching style and I've taken away a lot from the workshops (though still need to practice all of it).

The Saturday party was good, though very busy, and the chocolate and ice cream were wonderful touches. Dance Demon's later, bluesy set, was fab and I had a lot of good dances mostly with people I don't know.

However I preferred Sunday for the wonderful atmosphere and I had my best dances there. At the end of the night I took some advice and closed my eyes while dancing with my partner and it felt wonderful. It made me much more aware of the position of her body and our weight shifting. Another obvious result of this is it required a constant connection. Sending her out into a spin meant that I couldn't be certain of her position or anything. I definitely need to experiment more.

Stirling Tea Dance

I had lots of lovely dances at this tea dance; some very memorable ones from a lovely lady from Aberdeen. I'm hooked on Tea Dances. They seem the best atmosphere for me. I had a really fun four person dance where we constantly gave or stole the lead from the other couple. It was really interesting because it was a challenge invading another couple's space and attempting to disrupt them without actually crashing into them. I shall definitely find some people I can do that with again.

Edinburgh Party

It was a good set at the Edinburgh party and I had a good time. I seem to have a lot of two dances with people from Edinburgh and Glasgow. It worries me that this means that I don't get around to dancing with anywhere near as many people but then I very much enjoyed the dances with the people I had dances with.

Classes and Such

Unfortunately the end of term arrived at West Coast Swing. Which is more of a shame because I finally felt I was really getting the hang of it. I'll see what the next term brings.

A friend I haven't seen for a while came back to the Edinburgh venue and it was amazing seeing how much she had improved. It was really wonderful dancing with her and I think there is a really lovely surprise in seeing people after a few months and see how much they have come on (she is a better dancer than I am, but her style and such were notably more her).

Well that's it for now. I've got a sort of end of June to talk about and the poor months that represent July and the beginning of August. But in time...

May In Review

Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, and she did it backwards and in high heels."
- Faith Whittlesey

Again I've left this much to late to actually remember much about the classes. I did have some wonderful dances during them though.

Big Forum Gathering

My second BFG. This time I was staying a wee bit away from the site making it slightly difficult to get to and from however that didn't seem to stop me attending a big bunch of workshops.

Workshops

I started with Footwork and Body Movement which was basically a solo fixed routine. It was really interesting though as I don't really see myself as a solo dancer but I could see how to integrate some of the into partner dancing. Then I did one of the highlight classes for me Hi-Jack in Style. This had the woman hi-jacking part of the lead and doing her thing. When a follow hi-jacks it adds an unexpected change for the lead and I really enjoy it. Of course what was taught in the class really can only be done by followers (though I have tried a few of them, successfully, as a follower since). There is one that is initiated by the lead. I did a hi-jack class down at Storm but I hated that. I was a joy to do this class though. I also did the Musicality in Practice class though I thought it was alright I probably should have stayed for more of the tea dance (I'll get to that in a bit though).

On Sunday I did the Double Trouble workshop which was mostly the same as last time but I picked up a couple of new moves, it was good to revisit some of the stuff I had already been taught and Bill is always a fantastic teacher. I also attended Playing with the Connection which was interesting though not something you can put into practice with just one workshop. I didn't do any classes in the afternoon as I spent it at the tea dance.

Tea Dances

This BFG really hooked me on tea dances. They have an afternoon relaxed feel about them which is hard to explain. Both tea dances were great to be at with a big bunch of my favourite dancers there. Tiggerbabe really did a wonderful job with the playlist on the Sunday and I had so many wonderful dances I was in heaven.

Friday and Saturday Party

The Friday party might well have been good but I can't actually remember much about it. Oops.

The Saturday party was busy but enjoyable. I got there in time for the end of the class and to watch the Feeling Good routine. Afterwards freestyle got into full swing but a lack of energy kept me from dancing the whole night away.

Overall

There's no write-up for Sunday night's party because I hadn't drank enough water or gotten enough sleep so, by the end of the tea dance, I was feeling pretty bad so I decided to retreat back to Edinburgh.

I had a really great time there and meet some new favorite dancers along with having wonderful dances from existing favorites. The tea dances really had me hooked and I think that shows from my more recent tea dance attendance.

Edinburgh Party

This was a really interesting Edinburgh party for me. I finally managed to get a dance in with a teacher from Aberdeen and she was a truly wonderful dancer. It was a good night otherwise as well with lots of good dances from lots of lovely ladies. I also had a dance with The Tramp. He's an international Ceroc champion so I was interested in having a go dancing with such a proficient lead. It was really interesting following. Unlike most people I follow he was quite capable in leading me into ballroom drops and a somersault move (ok the exit on that didn't go great) and I spent most of the dance in a utter state of confusion. It was good fun though (even if we did have a semi circle of people watching which is a little more attention than I like).

Stirling Tea Dance and Slotted Dancing Workshop

The workshop was really interesting. Since I've been doing a bit of WCS then it was interesting to see how I could apply that slot technique to Ceroc. I try and practice slot techniques in the beginner classes (when I make it) and generally like the style.

Had a really good time at the Stirling Tea Dance. Lots of lovely dancers (many of which were at the party the night before) were there and Tiggerbabe's sets are always spot on. I also took advantage of the cake :D. To say something against it, the sunlight coming in through the large windows made the place even hotter. That mixed with me foolishly drinking coffee and not enough water made me feel faint at one stage. Sensibly I took a break though. Despite there being very few people there I still didn't get around to dancing with all the women :(.

Tags: Ceroc

April Review

Cutting a track short is like stealing a special moment of my life.
-Ducasi

I started off dancing in April early with the April Fools Party. There was some dress code about dressing up foolishly. Since I felt I didn't need much work to get to that state I just went in what I'd normally wear. The party was very quiet since there was another party going on in Glasgow at the same time. This meant:

• having two rooms felt a little excessive.


• it felt like there were more Edinburgh dancers there than Glasgow ones.

This wasn't bad though it did mean that I felt I wasn't really experiencing a Glasgow party. I had a reasonable night though I had a slightly sore knee so I was careful with the moves I did. Not having dips and drops isn't a huge thing but being careful means you have to add another layer on to leading to make sure you automatically don't just lead a move. They supplied Cream Eggs as well which I ate a lot of... and then felt ill :p.

I didn't really attend that many other parties in April. Red Hot and Blue was good from what I recall. I've totally forgotten about classes. This is what you get for writing things up so late. I didn't do to much West Coast Swing this month as most weeks it wasn't running.

My big weekender for the month was Perth ran by Boogie Nights. It's not a Modern Jive event though there was a lot of Modern Jivers there. It made it interesting as you couldn't guarantee that the person who was following had a clue about even the most basic of move. It also means the weekend wasn't necessarily tailored to MJ music though it did end up taking that focus.

The workshops were a bit mixed. I enjoyed the Line Dancing workshop; it was a silly and a fun way to get into the mood for dancing. I enjoyed the WCS workshops though the mix of ability meant that they kept it a little simpler than I was expecting. However it was Keith and Janey's classes that were really the highlights workshop wise. They focused on some really interesting moves and frame theory which was all really interesting stuff. One issue with these classes is the lack of a definitive level of the classes and the fact that there were only two workshops on at the same time meant that people who really weren't ready for those classes attended them.

Friday night party was good and I certainly had a few really enjoyable dances. It was quite warm (indeed this apparently affected the DJ's equipment) but, as it turns out, cool compared to Saturday night. Saturday night was a much shorter evening for me as I didn't get to the party until late and then went up to the hotel room to get a change and fell asleep! So I got about 2 hours of freestyle in (maybe a little less). The atmosphere did seem good but it was very warm and humid making it difficult to have a dance without feeling like you were melting.

However beyond the workshops and the freestyle the hotel, meals and the really pretty city that is Perth made it a really enjoyable weekend for me to spend with my girlfriend. I had a really good and relaxing time.

Ah well that's April's summary done. May and June should hopefully be soon and then I'll try and stay up to date on posting a summary at least at the end of the month if not at the end of a week.

March in Review

Well since I've failed to keep up with my blogging I thought I'd do a few months in review to cover what I've been up to. March was so long ago that I've almost forgotten what happened during it. As I recall there wasn't much in the way of parties in March. There was Red Hot and Blue and the Edinburgh party but beyond that there was the big event: Storm.

Storm

After getting up very early on Friday for the flight and a lift down there I thought I'd call it a short night on Friday night. I did the Funky Jive class; which was a fixed routine to Do Your Thing by Basment Jaxx. It was good fun and was a good way to remove a lot of self conscious feeling you have when in a new dance environment. A few of the things taught, like body rolls, certainly could be used later. I danced 'til 2ish before getting a (relatively) early night. It was good dancing with some people I've met before again and also getting a chance to dance with new people.

Saturday I started of going for pancakes at the chalet of the person who gave me a lift from London. They were lovely :). That gave me the energy to get to a Jango class. This was my first introduction to Jango and Amir as a teacher. People have said a lot of good things about his teaching style and for good reason; he's a fab teacher with good advice and a pleasant and amusing teaching style. Loved the concepts of Jango and the smooth feel of the moves to the degree that I was sold on the DVD. I also did the WCS class which was all stuff I had done before; however it was good to get a different perspective on it. I also did a Dance Psychology class which was like being on the forum except trapped in a room instead. Amir's musicality class was also very good. I'd really glad I fixed partner with Dizzy as my concentration was beginning to wane and I made a lot of stupid mistakes... plus she was a great laugh. I didn't stick with the Waltz, Men Style or Sabotage class possibly because I was too tired and they weren't really gripping me.

Saturday evening didn't start out great for me. I certainly had a few enjoyable dances but nothing wonderful. I thought maybe I had burnt myself out during the day. Anyway I went back to the room to go get changed and back to the dancing but then I fell asleep! It all could have gone horribly wrong if it hadn't been for someone woke me up with a text about how Blackpool was. I promptly left my room to go dancing again and had a really wonderful night including a bit of following, some double trouble with the "D" sisters and some simply divine dances with some of the best dancers from around the UK. I pretty much spent the whole night in the blues room but didn't regret that for a minute.

Did some good classes on Sunday including West Coast Swing 2 and Up Close And Personal along with Cuban Blues which, given the teachers were at the post-party party that I was at was surprised how well we all did.

Sunday evening was just as good, if not better, than Saturday night. There was a woman, who I was introduced to (called Lucy), who I had some really lovely dances with and another woman who I had no idea who she was that I had a couple of fantastic dances with (that I still remember two months down the line). I'm not sure if it was the atmosphere or my mood but so many dances just seemed to work and I had a really, really, really, good time.

Jango

Since I was in London on Monday the person I was staying with kindly took me to Jango. I heard a lot about it before I'd been and I really enjoyed the class at Storm. The Jive/Tango blend appeals to me as I really enjoy Tango and the fusion of the styles sounded yummy. I did have a wonderful time. It was very quiet but there were a lot of fantastic dancers there and after Lily B complimented me on my footwork I was over-joyed.

Tags: Ceroc